Mechanism for converting motion.



E. C. WINTBRS. MECHANISM FOR GONVERTING MOTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.20, 1905.

'f NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NIECHANISNI FOR CONVERTING IVIOTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 17, 1905.

Application led March 20, 1905. Serial No. 250.904.

T0 all whom, t 7a2/Ly concern Be it known that I, ELHANAN CHESTER WINTERS, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Rockfalls, in the county of Whiteside and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Mechanism for Converting otion, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the double rackand-pinion type of mechanisms for converting motion, and has for its object to provide a simple and efficient structural formation and combination of parts whereby the lateral shift or throw of the rack-frame incident to the reversal of movement in the mechanism is effected in a positive manner and without any excessive strain on the parts and with which the roper operative engagement of the teeth ofp the pinion with the teeth of the racks is effected in a like positive and efficient manner, all as will hereinafter more fully appear and be more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation with parts broken away and in section of a motion-converting mechanism embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same at line :c Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the same at line Qc x', Figs. 1 and 2.

Similar numerals of reference indicate like parts in the different views.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the stationary supporting and guiding frame of the mechanism of any usual and suitable construction.

2 is the pinion of the mechanism, the carrying-shaft 3 of which is journaled at one end in the stationary frame aforesaid.

4 is a cross-head having the usual open center and arranged to have a rectilinear reciprocating vmovement in the 'stationary frame aforesaid.

5 is a rack-frame having an open center and provided with the pair of racks 6 and 7, arranged in parallel relation and separated from each other a distance greater than the diameter of the pinion 2 aforesaid. Said rack-frame is carried by the cross-head 4 and is arranged to have a shifting movement thereon', so that either of the racks 6 or 7 may be brought into operative engagement with the aforesaid pinion in the normal operation of the mechanism, the described formation and arrangement of parts being common in the present type of motion-converting mechanisms.

8 and 9 are longitudinal ways formed in the rack-frame in adjacent relation to the racks 6 and 7. Said ways are provided with opposed lateral inclines 10 and 11 on their adjacent longitudinal margins, as shown more particularly in Fig. 3, and with end inclines 12 and 13, arranged in opposed relation, as shown more particularly in Fig. 3 and in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and so that one incline will be adjacent to one end of the rack-frame and the other incline adjacent to the other end of the rack-frame for purposes set forth in the operation of the mechanism.

14 and 15 are a pair of blocks moving in guide-orifices in the stationary frame 1 in a plane at right angles to the plane of movement of reciprocation of the rack-frame. Each of said blocks is individual to each of the longitudinal ways aforesaid, with their ends in engagement with said ways beveled or chamfered off to iit the respective inclines 10, 11, 12, and 13, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

16 is an oscillating lever centrally pivoted on the stationary frame 1, with its respective arms adapted to have operative engagement with the heels of the pair of blocksaforesaid.

17 is a bar or tooth arranged on one sidef the pinion 2 and adapted when the rackframe nears the end of its respective forward and backward movement of reciprocation, to engage between one or the other of the pairs 18 19 or 20 21 of side lugs on the rack-frame to hold the rack-frame in proper relative position to the pinion 2 while the shifting of said rack-frame is being attained in a normal operation of the mechanism.

In the preferred construction of the present invention the adjacent lugs 19 and 21 are of a spring-detent form, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to permit of a ready entrance of the points of the bar or tooth 17 between them, such construction permitting of a substantially close fit between said tooth and said lugs with an avoidance of lost motion between the parts.

In the construction shown in the drawings but one end of the bar 17 is active in the operation of the mechanism owing to the shortness of the racks 6 and 7. When said racks are, however, given a greater or a shorter proportionate length in relation to the diameter of the pinion 2, as required in many IOO uses of the mechanism, both ends of the bar will become active.

The present mechanism is adapted for converting rotary into reciprocating motion or the reverse, and the scope of the present invention embraces the application of the mechanism to either purpose.

Among the special uses to which the present mechanism can be applied are printingpresses, baling-presses, steam-engines, automobiles, corn-planters, and windmills.

The operation of the mechanism is as follows: Assuming it is used for converting a constant rotary motion of the pinion-shaft 3 into a reciprocating motion of .the crosshead 4 and with the pinion 2 in operative engagement with the rack 7, the continued rotation of said pinion will move said rack, and with it the rack-frame and cross-head, to the left, in the construction illustrated in Fig. 1, until the end of such forward stroke is nearly reached, when the incline 13 moves into operative engagement with the block 15 to force the same backward and through the instrumentality of the oscillatory lever 16 force the companion block .14 forward. In its forward movement the said block 14 by its inclined forward end acting against the incline 10 shifts the rack-frame to disengage the rack 7 from operative engagement with the pinion 2 and bring the rack 6 into operative englagement with said pinion.

During such s 1 ting movement of the rackframe a projecting end of the bar or tooth 17 moves between the pair of lugs 18 and 19 to maintain the parts in proper relative position while the above-mentioned shifting ofthe parts is effected. A reverse stroke of the cross-head and its parts now takes place in a direction to the right, in Fig. 1, until the end ofsuch stroke is nearly reached, when a repetition of the operation of parts above described takes place between the incline 12 the block 15, the oscillatory lever 16, the block 15, the incline 11, the bar or tooth17, and the lugs 20 and 21 to again shift the rack-frame back to the position first described to again effect a fresh cycle of movements in the continued operation of the mechanism.

y Having thus fully described my said invention, what l claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a mechanism for converting motion, the combination of a cross-head, a guide therefor, a shaft having bearin in said guide, a pinion carried by said sha? a rackframe carried by said cross-head and adapted for a shifting adjustment thereon, a pair of opposed racks on said frame, an oscillatory lever on said guide, and means between the respective arms of said lever and the rackframe for converting a part of the longitudinal movement of the rack-frame into a shifting adjustment of the same, substantially as set forth.

2. In a mechanism for converting motion, the combination of a cross-head, a guide therefor, a shaft having bearing in said guide, a pinion carried by said shaft, a rack-frame carried by said cross-head and adapted for a shifting adjustment thereon, a pair of opposed racks on said frame, an oscillatory lever on said guide, and means between the respective arms of said lever and the rackframe for converting a part of the longitudinal movement of the rack-frame into a shifting adjustment of the same, comprising a air of ways in said frame having individual ongitudinal inclines and individual end inclines, and a pair of blocks moving in the guide aforesaid in a direction at an angle to the longitudinal movement of the rack-frame, and arranged intermediate of the oscillatory lever and the inclines aforesaid, substantially as set forth.

3. In a mechanism for converting motion, the combination of a cross-head, a guide therefor, a shaft having bearing in said guide, a pinion carried by said shaft, a rack-frame carried by said cross-head and adapted for a shifting adjustment thereon, a pair of opposed racks on said frame, means for converting a part of the longitudinal movement of the rack-frame into a shifting adjustment of the same, a bar or tooth on one side of the pinion,

and pairs of lugs on the side of the rack-frame adapted for engagement with said bar or tooth, substantially as set forth.

4. In a mechanism for converting motion, the combination Yof a cross-head, a guide therefor, a shaft having a bearing in said uide, a pinion carried by said shaft, a rackrame carried by said cross-head and adapted for a shifting adjustmentthereon, a pair of opposed racks on said frame, means for IOO converting a part of the longitudinal movej ment of the rack-frame into a shifting adjustment of the same, a bar or tooth on one side of the pinion, and pairs of lugs on the side of the rack-frame adapted for engagement with said bar or tooth, one of each pair of said lugs having the form of a spring-detent, substantially as set forth.

Signed at Rockfalls, Illinois, this 8th day of March, 1905. ELHANAN CHESTER WINTERS. Witnesses:

ROBERT B. MCNEIL, WARD LINCOLN. 

